is some person, or community, that should deny the Father and the Son; whence, it clearly follows that the spirit of the Antichrist is that false and impious principle, by which the Father and the Son are denied. But Mahomet openly and distinctly denies, in the Koran, the Father and the Son; and this his denial constitutes one of the fundamental principles of his religion, and, as such, is firmly held by all his followers; therefore, Mahomet is the Antichrist predicted by St. John. 1

SECTION II.

2nd Mark.-The Antichrist must professedly deny the Incarnation. Mahomet professedly denies the Incarnation.

Here also we cannot help being astonished at the wonderful identity of the features of the Antichrist, according to St. John, and the character of Mahomet, according to the Koran. St. John says: "Every spirit that dissolveth Jesus is not of God, and this is the Antichrist." 2 "He who confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, this is the Antichrist." And Mahomet, in the Koran, denies that Christ is "the Son of the Living God, made Man," and says that He is a mere prophet, inferior to himself.

3

Let us throw this argument also into a regular

1 The characteristic of the Antichrist being the denial of the Father and the Son, it is plain that the spirit of the Antichrist can be no other than the spirit of infidelity. Such, then, being the spirit of the Antichrist, all who are tainted with infidelity, whether more or less virulent, are infected by that spirit, though they may not be members of the kingdom or community which is especially denominated the Antichrist. In the language, therefore, of St. John, who tells us that there are many Antichrists, every one who rejects Christ, or entertains heretical opinions respecting his divine person, is an individual Antichrist, because he is infected by the spirit of the great and special Antichrist. 21 John iv. 2, 3. 32 John 7.

form. We are expressly told by St. John, that the Antichrist is some person, or community, that professedly dissolveth Christ; that denies that the Son of the Living God is come in the flesh. But Mahomet openly and distinctly denies, in the Koran, that Christ is the Son of the Living God, made Man; and this, his denial, constitutes one of the essential principles of the religion of all his followers. Therefore, Mahomet is the Antichrist predicted by St. John.

SECTION III.

3rd Mark.-The Antichrist must exalt himself above Christ. Mahomet exalts himself above Christ.

The Arabian impostor allowed Jesus Christ to be a prophet, but he maintained that he himself was a greater prophet; that he was appointed by God to be the redeemer of all those that believed in him, and that the Koran was destined to supersede the Gospel. He taught his disciples that "the piety of Moses and of Christ rejoiced in the assurance of a future prophet, more illustrious than themselves; and that the evangelic promise of the Paraclete, or Holy Ghost, was prefigured in the name, and accomplished in the person of Mahomet, the greatest and the last of the Apostles of God." 1 The greatest glory of Christendom is "the one Mediator of God and men, the Lord Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a redemption for all." But Mahomet rose up to obscure this glory, and did all he could to lower the Person of the Lord Jesus, and to rob Him of His glory. In one of his visions he relates that, having reached the very throne of God Himself, on the steps of it he 1 Hist. of Decl. vol. ix. p. 267.

1

beheld these words: "There is no God but God, and Mahomet is His prophet." And as he raised himself above Christ, and proclaimed himself sent by God to establish a religion which was to supersede Christianity, so he took away the daily sacrifice, which the prophet Daniel expressly foretold that the Antichrist would do. He utterly denied the passion of Christ, which he considered a disgraceful doctrine, and abolished the seven sacraments, which our Lord has instituted as so many fountains of grace. His benighted followers, seduced by him, instead of looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, and placing their trust in Him, were taught by Mahomet to look up to him, and to hope in him. Instead of raising their heart to their Saviour Jesus Christ, and of going to God through Him, they direct their best aspirations to Mahomet, and trust to go to God through his mediation. What more could Mahomet do to fulfil the prediction of Daniel concerning the Antichrist, that he should speak great things against the Most High; that he should magnify himself against the Prince of princes? How could he better accomplish the prophecy of St. Paul, that the "Man of Sin should oppose and be lifted up above all that is called God ?" 2

SECTION IV.

4th Mark.-The Antichrist must be a Man of Sin in life and doctrine. Mahomet was a Man of Sin in life and doctrine.

Who can read the history of his life, and not blush at the sight of his beastly lust? Not content with fifteen wives, and a whole host of

'See Vie de Mahomet, Koran, Kasimirki.
2 2 Thess. ii. 4.

concubines and female slaves, at the age of fiftyfour he fell in love with Aicha, a girl nine years old, just married to his own adopted son Žaid; and this unfortunate man was forced to repudiate his wife to gratify the insatiable passions of the prophet. When some of his followers murmured at his brutality, how did he answer them? He makes the angel Gabriel descend from heaven with a fresh chapter of the Koran, prepared on purpose, in which the incest and adultery of the prophet is sanctioned in a most solemn manner, and the God of heaven is made to say that He gives a special privilege to the prophet to marry any woman upon earth, no matter what previous ties she may have contracted, if only she be ready to yield to his solicitations.

And if we turn from the life of Mahomet to his doctrine, we shall find that his teaching corresponds exactly with his example. The very paradise he promised to his deluded followers is a place of debauchery, a sink of iniquity. The enjoyments of the Mahometan elect are not those of the spirit, but of the flesh; not those of angels, but of beasts. Our Lord made the marriage union a sacrament; and this union He pronounced indissoluble, except by death. Mahomet restored polygamy, and consecrated divorce. Thus this wicked impostor, under the impious pretext of being authorized by God to do so, threw men back into all that degradation of human corruption which even enlightened pagans viewed with shame and disgust. Here let me ask again, what more could Mahomet have done to fulfil the prediction of Daniel concerning the Antichrist, that he should follow the lust of women; and the other prophecy of St. Paul, that Antichrist should be

the Man of Sin, the son of perdition, the wicked one; he who was to come in all seduction of iniquity to them that perish?1

SECTION V.

5th Mark.-The Antichrist must be a false prophet, and must perform lying wonders. Mahomet is a false prophet, and has performed lying wonders.

Our Blessed Saviour warned His disciples that many false prophets should arise and should deceive many. This prophecy began to be fulfilled at the very commencement of Christianity, under the eyes of the Apostles themselves. To this class of false prophets belong Simon Magus and his followers, the Gnostics, who were very numerous. Such also were the Judaizing teachers, false apostles, as they are called by St. Paul;2 deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. Such also were Hymeneus and Philetus, of whom the Apostle complains,3 that they affirmed the resurrection to be past already, and overthrew the faith of some. But, what were these, and other similar characters, when compared with the impostor Mahomet, who proclaimed himself to be the greatest prophet, higher even than Christ, and seduced so many millions of men by his frauds and lying wonders? To form some idea of the shameful imposition which he practised upon mankind, we need only read the account given in the Koran of his pretended visions and revelations.

"In the fortieth year of his age he shut himself up in the caverns of Mount Hera, not far from the city of Mecca; there he remained for six

1 2 Thess. ii.

32 Tim. ii. 17, 18.

2 2 Cor. xi. 13.